An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/kernen
kernen, verb, ‘to churn,’ allied to English churn, Anglo-Saxon *čirne, *čyrne, Dutch karn, Old Icelandic kirna, feminine, ‘churn,’ with which Anglo-Saxon čyrnan, English to churn, and the equivalent Dutch karnen are also connected. Akin to Modern High German (Up. Palat.) kern, ‘cream,’ Middle Dutch kerne, Scandinavian (Icelandic) kjarne, ‘cream,’ which perhaps are identical with Kern. Probably Teutonic kirnjôn, ‘churn,’ and kirnjan, ‘to churn,’ are primary derivatives of *kerno-, ‘cream.’